


Cough Syrup

by just_chiara



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Bullying, Canon Compliant, Canon Disabled Character, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Male Friendship, Post-Season/Series 01, Post-Season/Series 02, Pre-Season/Series 02, References To Canon Suicide Attempt, Secret Santa, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 21:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_chiara/pseuds/just_chiara
Summary: After the events of Season 1, Zach is left to pick up the pieces. Can he be there for Alex and save his friendship with Justin?





	Cough Syrup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thomasnewtminho29](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thomasnewtminho29/gifts).



_Life's too short to even care at all_  
_I'm coming up now, coming up now out of the blue_  
_These zombies in the park they're looking for my heart_  
_A dark world aches for a splash of the sun_

 _If I could find a way to see this straight, I'd run away_  
_To some fortune that I should have found by now_

 _And so I run to the things they said could restore me_  
_Restore life the way it should be_  
_I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down_

**(Cough Syrup, Young the Giant)**

 

 

* * *

 

 

****

Zach texts Justin.  
  
Friday, Nov. 10, 2017  
Zach: Have you heard about Alex?!!  
Zach: Call me  
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017  
Zach: Justin you really need to call me  
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017  
Zach: Where the fuck are you?!  


 

 

* * *

 

 

**Monday, Nov. 13, 2017**

Zach tries calling Justin. Again. It goes straight to voicemail. Again.

“Justin… Fuck. I don’t know why I even bother. You’re clearly not checking your messages, or maybe you are and just don’t care. Alex is in a coma. He, _fuck_ , he tried to kill himself.” Zach’s voice breaks. He tries to hide it with a cough. “The Bakers have the tapes. They gave them to the police. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Jess hasn’t come to school either. Everything’s fucked up. Just… call me if you get this?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017**

Zach is sitting in his car in the parking lot of the hospital. Maybe today will be the day. The day he actually goes inside.

He’s been trying to work up the courage to visit Alex since last Friday when he learned what happened. He’s only made it as far as the parking lot. He can’t bring himself to face Alex’s parents. Or, maybe, it’s Alex he’s not ready to see.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way.

Last week, he was worried about the tapes getting out. That was the worst that was supposed to happen. Not this. No one was supposed to _die_. No one _else_.

(Alex isn’t dead. Alex isn’t dead. Alex isn’t dead.)

( _Yet_.)

He sees a familiar face walk by and quickly gets out of the car. “Jensen?” he calls.

Clay stops and turns around, but only long enough to see who was calling him. As soon as he spots Zach, he turns on his heels and walks away.

Zach runs after him and quickly catches up with him. “Clay, please.”

“What the fuck do you want?” Clay barks.

“Have you seen him? How is he?”

“Why don’t you go and see for yourself?” Clay’s tone is hostile.

Zach lowers his head. “I’m going to. I’m trying to,” he says.

“Well, try harder!” Clay says. “Maybe if you’d _tried_ before, we wouldn’t be here right now. He had dozens of friends. Where the fuck were you all? Where are you now? It’s just me and Tyler Down in that room. Are you all too busy raping girls to come and visit your friend?”

“I’m not a fucking rapist!” Zach looks at Clay right in the eye.

Clay shakes his head. “No. Just a coward. You, Justin… all fucking cowards. Alex was the only good one out of all of you.”

“Is. Alex _is_ the only good one.” Zach’s voice is barely a whisper. He doesn’t dare to speak any louder.

 

 

* * *

 

 

> **From:** Zach  
>  **To:** Justin  
>  **Subject:** Where are you?
> 
> _Justin, I’m worried about you. I’ve tried calling but your phone is always off. I went to your house but nobody was there. Nobody knows where you are. I don’t even know if you’ll get this email. If you do, please call me. I’m sorry I’ve been a shitty friend. We can figure out this fucking mess together. I need you here and I think you need me._

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017**

At lunch, Bryce and the guys engage in a contest over who can say the most vulgar and insensitive thing about Jessica.

Zach eats in silence, trying not to get noticed. He’s thinking about that morning back in September when Jess came up to him in the hallway and hugged him. “You looked like you could use it,” she whispered against his shoulder. She didn’t know it was his dad’s birthday; he hadn’t told anyone. She noticed he wasn’t okay and tried to make him feel better. Just like that.

Jess is nice and sweet and caring. He should say that. He should stand up for her. He knows it would be the right thing to do. But what if he does? It wouldn’t change anything. They wouldn’t stop saying lies about her, they would just start saying them about him, too.

Would Alex do it? Would Justin? Would it make a difference if they were here? Maybe if Zach wasn’t so alone, he’d have the courage to stand up to Bryce.

Or maybe he’s just making excuses for himself.

He glances up from his plate. Two of the guys are mimicking the rape. Only, they’re not calling it rape, they’re calling it sex. Everyone’s laughing like it’s the funniest joke they’ve ever heard.

May is starting high school next year. Are guys like them going to talk about her like that? Are they going to hurt her like they hurt Jess?

Suddenly, he’s not hungry anymore.

“Are we boring you, Dempsey?” Bryce asks.

Monty replies before Zach has a chance to. “Maybe he doesn’t know that’s what sex looks like.”

“With a girl!” another guy adds.

Zach stands up. He wants them to punch them. _Hard_. Instead, he says that coach Patrick is waiting for him and walks away. He hears them all laugh.

“Did we hurt your feelings, Zachy?” Bryce calls after him. Zach ignores him and keeps walking.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017**

> **From:** Zach  
>  **To:** Justin  
>  **Subject:** Jessica
> 
> _I guess you’re not checking your messages. You just… left. But if you are reading this, here’s a reason for you to come back: Jessica needs you. Bryce is lying to everyone. He said she cheated on you with him and then cried rape because she regretted it. She’s not coming to school, she’s not texting me back. She’s not okay. She needs you. Please come back._

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Friday, Nov. 17, 2017**

Zach laughs at Bryce’s jokes, lets him win at poker, and compliments his beer pong skills. Then, when they’re finally alone, he asks him, “What happened to Justin, anyway?”

Casually. Like he doesn’t even care. Like he’s just making random conversation. Like he hasn’t been waiting all night to ask him.

Bryce’s shoulders stiffen and he looks suspiciously at Zach. “Who the fuck cares? He’s just a fucking loser.”

Zach shrugs. “Whatever. Just wondering if he’s gonna try to fuck things up for us.”

For _us_. As if what Zach did even remotely compared to what Bryce did. He should have just listened to Alex sooner: now Alex is in a coma, Justin is gone, and those fucking tapes got out anyway.

Still, the words work on Bryce, who’s suddenly much friendlier than he’s been all week. “Justin won’t be problem. He’s not coming back. He left town.”

“Seth?” Zach is not sure if he’s asking if Justin left with Seth or because of Seth. From what Justin told him, which —granted— isn’t a lot, the latter is more likely.

Bryce gives him a look, as if he’s trying to decide if Zach is playing dumb or really doesn’t know. Or, maybe, he’s deciding whether or not he can trust him. “I don’t fucking know why,” he says eventually. “We had a fight. He was jealous that Jessica slept with me. I told him it didn’t mean shit, but he wouldn’t listen. He was probably high off his ass.”

“Do you think he went to Sacramento? Isn’t that where his dad lives?” Zach holds his breath. He knows Justin wouldn’t look for his father, but he also knows that it’s hard for Bryce to miss a chance of proving he, not Zach, is Justin’s best friend.

“Nah, his father wants nothing to do him,” Bryce says predictably. Then he adds, “He’s probably in Oakland. He always said he’d move there if he ever left Crestmont. I thought you’d know that. Apparently, he only told me.”

“You were his best friend,” Zach says. Let him think he won. It’s not even hard to sound hurt and jealous because, fuck, he is. Even after everything that happened, he still is.

“That position’s open now,” Bryce says, as if he’s planning on holding open audition for the role.

Zach forces himself to smile.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017**

Zach tells his mother he’s going to spend the day playing baseball with the guys. He tells Bryce he’s meeting a girl, promises him details later, and asks him to cover for him with his mother. Then, he drives to Oakland.

He drives around the streets looking for Justin. He stops whenever he sees a group of kids, he parks in front of dozens of diners, fast foods and grocery stores to talk to the staff. He shows everyone a picture of Justin on his phone and asks them if they remember seeing him.

Nobody’s seen him. Nobody remembers him.

Maybe he’s not even here. Maybe Bryce was lying, or maybe Justin went somewhere else precisely because he didn’t want Bryce to be able to find him.

Maybe something happened to him.

Zach swings by the hospital but doesn’t go inside. Then, he looks up youth homeless shelters online. He visits them all, one after the other. No sign of Justin.

Defeated and out of ideas, he finds a diner and sits at a table by the window, even though, at this point, he’s not holding out hope of seeing Justin walk by. He was so sure that he would find him. That all he had to do was come here and Justin would magically appear, ready to be taken home.

 _Idiot_.

While he waits for his burger and fries, he types an email on his phone.

> **From:** Zach  
>  **To:** Justin  
>  **Subject:** Please read this now
> 
> _Justin, I’m in Oakland right now looking for you. I don’t know if you’re here. I don’t know if you’re getting my emails. I don’t know shit right now. But if you are… I’m here. Call me. Email me. Come talk to me in person. I’ll be at Buttercup diner at 229 Broadway for the next two hours. I’ll be here again next Saturday, all day._
> 
> _Please, Justin._
> 
> _I’m fucking sorry, okay?_

He blinks a couple of times after hitting Send because he’s not going to cry. He’s just not.

He drinks his Coke and looks at the door. His heart jumps every time it opens.

It’s never Justin.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Monday, Nov. 20, 2017**

The wall is cold against Zach’s back. He’s leaning against it for support. He brings up a hand to cover his eyes as silent tears run down his face.

Seeing Alex like that— _Fuck_.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

_Fuck._

He feels a gentle touch on his elbow and quickly wipes away the tears.

“Oh, honey, why don’t you come sit down?” Mrs. Standall says. Her son might never wake up, and yet here she is, checking in on Zach.

He doesn’t deserve her kindness. It’s his fault Alex is here. He should have noticed. He should have stopped him.

“I’m fine, Mrs. Standall. Thank you. I’m—I’m sorry.”

“It’s hard seeing him like this,” she says.

Zach wasn’t apologizing for crying; he was apologizing for not being there for Alex. He doesn’t say so. “I should have come sooner,” he tells her instead. “Is he going to wake up?”

For a second, she looks like she’s about to crumble under the weight of it all. All the pain, the worry, the possibility of such an unbearable loss. But, somehow, she collects herself before Zach has time to decide if and how he should try to comfort her. “It’s possible,” she whispers.

Zach looks away.

“Is it okay if I sit with him for a while?” he asks after a few moments.

“Of course. And you can talk to him if you want.” She pats his arm. “It’s good for him to have his friends here, and he’s going to need a support system if he wakes up.”

 _If_ he wakes up _._ She’s trying to accept the possibility that he might not.

“When he does,” Zach starts. His voice catches in his throat. Should he say _if_ instead? No. Fuck it. He’s not giving up on Alex. He’s a fighter. He _has_ to get better. “When he wakes up, we’ll be here.” He’s not sure who _we_ is. Bryce and the others clearly don’t give a shit, Justin might be gone for good, and Zach doesn’t think he, Clay Jensen and Tyler Down will ever be a _we_. “I’ll be here,” he corrects.

“Thank you—”

“Zach,” he says.

She nods and a faint smile makes its way to her lips. “Zach. He talked about you all the time. Thank you for being such a good friend to him.”

Zach feels his throat tighten. If he had been a good friend to Alex, they wouldn’t be here.

“I’ll just—” He nods to the door. “I’ll just go back inside.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

> **From:** Zach  
>  **To:** Justin  
>  **Subject:** FWD: Please read this now
> 
> _I went to see Alex today. It’s bad. It’s really bad. I need you. I can’t do this alone._
> 
> _Please PLEASE meet me at Buttercup diner this Saturday._
> 
> _You can stay at my place if things are fucked up at home. I’ll think of something to get my mom on board. I promise._

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017**

> **From:** Zach  
>  **To:** Justin  
>  **Subject:** Alex
> 
> _Alex woke up. He might never talk or walk again but he’s awake. He needs us now. I know you guys have your issues, but he was your friend. We can’t let him down too._
> 
> _Please be there on Saturday._

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Sunday, Nov. 26, 2017**

> **From:** Zach  
>  **To:** Justin  
>  **Subject:** FWD: FDW: Please read this now
> 
> _At least let me know you’re okay?_

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Monday, Nov. 27, 2017**

“Spit it out, Dempsey. Who’s the mystery girl?” Bryce loops an arm around Zach’s shoulders as they walk down the hallway.

Zach stiffens at the touch. “You don’t know her.”

“Let’s fix that,” Bryce says. “Bring her to my place this weekend. We’re gonna party on Saturday!”

“Can’t. I have to watch my sister.” The lie comes out smoothly. When did he learn to lie so easily?

“Bring your sister, too.”

Zach can’t tell if he’s serious. He opens his mouth, ready to lie again, but before he has a chance to say anything Bryce laughs.

_Thank God he was joking._

“Relax, Dempsey. I get it. No need to lie to me about it. Have fun with your girlfriend in private,” he says. “You can make it up to me by being my wingman. If you’re gonna ditch me for a girl, the least you can do is help me get one myself, right?”

“Right,” Zach says. Although what he really wants to say is _Hell no_.

“That cheerleader you study with, Claire?”

“Chloe.”

“Whatever. Do you have her number?”

Zach hesitates. After what Bryce did to Jessica and Hannah, how can he give him another girl’s number?

“I don’t,” he lies. “But I’ll ask her for you.”

It’s not like Bryce wouldn’t be able to get to her even if Zach didn’t give him her number. All he’d have to do is talk to her at school. If he’s got his eye on her, he’s not gonna give up. At least this way Zach gets to warn her. Maybe she’ll turn him down. Maybe she won’t be interested. Maybe Bryce will let it go.

Bryce is smiling. “You’re the best, Zachy.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Sunday, Dec. 2, 2017**

Alex hits the water cup with his right hand, sending it flying across the room. He’s crying in rage, left hand twitching, right hand now tightly clenched into a fist. “Fuck!”

Before he hurts himself, Zach takes hold of his wrists to restrain him. Alex’s left arm is limp, it barely trembles in Zach’s grip, but his right one fights against the constraint.

“Let me go!” he screams. “FUCKING LEAVE!”

Zach doesn’t let go. He doesn’t leave. He pulls Alex closer, holding him to his chest even as he struggles.

“I hate you! I hate you all! I hate myself!” Alex is sobbing, still trying to push Zach away. “I’m fucking useless. I should have died. I wish I’d died.”

Zach feels like all the air has been punched out of his lungs. “Don’t say that! Don’t you fucking dare say that.”

Alex stops fighting him and collapses into his arms. Sitting on the hospital bed next to him, Zach hugs him tight and sobs quietly.

“You’ll be okay,” he whispers once they’ve both stopped crying. His arms are still holding Alex close. “You’ll get better. I’m gonna help you. We’ll do this together.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017**

> **From:** Zach  
>  **To:** Justin  
>  **Subject:** (no subject)
> 
> _I don’t know why I keep emailing you. It’s clear you’re either not getting these or you don’t give a shit._
> 
> _I just thought, maybe—It’s almost Christmas. Come home. Let me know where you are and I’ll come get you. Wherever it is, I’ll fucking come and get you. You can stay with me._
> 
> _The trial is probably not even gonna happen. Things are getting back to normal. You can come back._
> 
> _Please, Justin._

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017**

“You realize it’s a Sunday, right? And that tomorrow is Christmas?” Alex looks up at Zach, who’s standing in the middle of the locker room wearing swimming trunks and a grey t-shirt.

“I do, and yet I’m here because I’m committed to this.”

Alex sighs. “I appreciate it. I mean it. But is one day going to make a difference?”

Zach takes a seat on the bench closest to Alex’s wheelchair. “Probably not,” he says. He’s not in the mood for a pep talk. Not today. Not this week.

“Why are you even here, Zach?” Alex’s voice is soft. No anger there. He’s tired today, not frustrated. “You could be with your friends. You know, your non-crippled friends.”

Zach shakes his head slowly. “I don’t want to spend time with them. Especially not right now.”

Alex looks confused. It takes him a few seconds to figure out why. “Because of Bryce. What he did to Jess and Hannah. The tapes.”

“Yeah,” Zach confirms.

The muscles in Alex’s shoulders loosen up. Zach has spent so much time helping him with PT that he automatically notices every single change in his posture and body language. He knows Alex’s body as well as his own. And that? That is relief. Because he remembered.

“It’s Christmas tomorrow,” Alex repeats.

Zach feels a sharp pain in his chest. Again. He looks down. “I know,” he mumbles.

“We’ll do an extra thirty minutes next time, but let’s skip it today,” Alex says. “You can go home and spend some time with your family. It’s what Christmas is all about, isn’t it?”

Zach flinches at the words. He knows Alex is just trying to get out of PT, but it hurts so fucking much. “I don’t want to go home. I can’t go home, okay?”

“Shit, what happened? Did you have a fight with your folks?”

“My…?”

_Fuck. Oh, fuck no._

Out of all the things Alex could’ve forgotten, why this one?

“Alex, my dad died last summer.” He tries to keep his voice steady. He fails spectacularly.

And then, of course, he starts crying. _Fuck fuck fuck._

He turns away, trying to hide his face from Alex. As if there’s any chance he hasn’t noticed.

“Shit. Zach.” Alex seems at a loss for words. “Shit. I’m sorry. I—I forgot. I—Fuck. I’m so sorry.”

Zach wipes away his tears with the back of his hand. “I can’t be at home today. I’ll be there tomorrow. I’ll be strong for my mom and my sister. But today I just—” He shakes his head. “I can’t. So can we please get in the pool?”

Alex rests his hand on Zach’s wrist. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“I’m sure, but thank you.”

“I’ll be your distraction today, then.” Alex’s hand is still on his wrist, rubbing slow circles with his thumb. “But allow me to make a counteroffer. Instead of getting all wet and spending the next hour watching my pathetic ass, wouldn’t you rather buy me some fries and help me figure out if there’s any chance that Jess might ever be into me again?”

Zach nods. “Alright, but just this once. Don’t get used to it.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Tuesday, Mar. 13, 2018**

“—now that Justin Foley’s back.”

Zach almost drops everything he’s holding when he hears those words. They came from a sophomore. Chris Something. Zach grabs him by the arm. “Justin’s back? Where did you hear that?”

The boy is startled but recovers quickly. “Everybody’s talking about it. Some guys went out for a ride during lunch and saw him.”

_Justin’s back._

Which means he’s alive. Thank God.

Did the Bakers’ lawyer find him? The school’s? Is he even back because of the trial? Is he okay?

Why hasn’t he called him?

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Tuesday, Mar. 20, 2018**

Justin climbs into the car. He saw it from the bedroom window and recognized it immediately. He knew without a doubt that Zach wasn’t here to talk to Clay. “What are you doing here, Zach?”

“I wanted to talk to you. Alex told me Clay was the one who found you and you were with him today in the Clubhouse, so I figured you’re probably crashing at his house,” Zach says.

It feels like it happened days ago, not mere hours. The fight with Bryce, walking off the field in the middle of the game, sneaking into the Clubhouse to get another Polaroid to give Clay, only to find him—and Justin—there.

Justin, who used to be his best friend. Who may still be.

Justin, who’s been back for a week, maybe more, and hasn’t reached out to him.

A heavy silence hangs between them. Then, when it’s become almost unbearable, they both talk at the same time.

“Are you—?”

“I read—” Justin glances at him. “You first.”

“Are you okay?”

“I guess. Yeah.” Justin shrugs. As if it didn’t matter.

Zach wants to call him out on his bullshit answer and ask him what’s wrong. Maybe a year ago he would’ve. Now he’s not sure he’s got the right to. “Are you here to testify?”

Justin nods. “That’s why Clay brought me back, but Jess doesn’t want me to, so— We’re hoping Chloe might. Bryce, uh—Well, you already know what he did to her.”

“I wasn’t there,” Zach says. “When he raped her, I wasn’t there. I only went a couple of times, I swear, and I never—”

Their eyes meet for the first time.

“I believe you,” Justin says. “I know you’re not like them.”

“Chloe doesn’t deserve to go through that.”

“No, she’s doesn’t.”

Zach looks at him. He’s skinnier than he used to be and, even in the dim light of the streetlamps, Zach can tell that he’s been through a lot. If only he’d been able to find him back in November, things might be different now.

“I read your emails,” Justin says. “I mean, today. I read them today. I was living on the streets. I didn’t have my phone. I didn’t—” He takes a deep breath. “I read them today.”

Zach shifts in his seat, uncomfortable. “I meant what I said. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

Justin shakes his head slowly. “I wasn’t there for you either.”

“If you’d read them when I sent them, would you have called me? Would you have let me take you back?” Zach asks.

“I don’t know,” Justin says honestly after considering it for a few seconds. “But now I wish I had.”

It’s not the answer Zach wanted, but it’s not the one he feared either. It’s good enough. “Me, too,” he says.

Silence settles back between them, more comfortable this time. There are so many things they could talk about, but they need to pace themselves.

“What’s the deal with Alex and Jess?” Justin asks after a while.

“It’s complicated, as usual,” Zach says. “More than usual. They’ve been reconnecting but it’s hard to tell what’s gonna happen. He wasn’t happy to hear you were back. He knows she still has feelings for you.”

Justin inhales sharply. “Not that kind of feelings,” he mumbles. “She hates me.”

“If she did, Alex wouldn’t feel threatened by you.” Zach squeezes Justin’s shoulder. Damn, he’s down to skin and bones.

“It almost sounds like you hope she’ll pick me.” Justin smiles. “Do you still like him?”

Zach stiffens and pulls his hand away. “I don’t hope that she breaks his heart. And I don’t like him. Not in the way you’re implying.”

“Winter break of sophomore year, party at Bryce’s. You were drunk and you told me you liked Alex. We never talked about it again, but I haven’t forgotten. And the other day he came over and while we waited for Clay he told me you’ve been helping him a lot with, like, his recovery and shit. I figured, maybe something was happening there.” Justin shrugs. “And I know you don’t hope she breaks his heart. I don’t either, for what it’s worth.”

Zach runs his hands up and down his thighs, then stuffs them into his pockets. “It’s all fucked up.”

“Yeah.”

“The offer still stands, by the way. If you need a place to stay—” Zach looks at him, serious.

“Thank you. I’m okay right now. The Jensens said I could stay for as long as I need.” Justin’s lips curl into a small smile at the thought.

Zach smiles, too. “I’m glad Clay found you.”

Justin looks at the deserted street, then back at Zach. “How did you know to look for me in Oakland?”

“Bryce.”

The name lingers in the silence that follows. “He testifies tomorrow,” Justin says a few seconds later. “Are you gonna be there?”

“No. The rest of the baseball team will, though.” Zach knows they will be upset with him for not joining them. He doesn’t care about Bryce questioning his loyalties anymore, but he hopes coach Rick will understand.

Justin pats his shoulder. “Whatever happens with them, you’ve got us. Well, I can’t speak for the others, but you’ve got _me_.”

They look at each other. One late-night conversation in a car doesn’t magically fix their friendship, but it’s a good start.

“I have to go now. My mom wants me home by 9.30,” Zach says.

Justin smiles. “And that’s why I’d rather stay with the Jensens. My curfew is still better than yours.”

They laugh, then they look at each other, each wondering if they should hug. Justin shakes his head, then slips out of the car. “See you soon, Zach,” he says before closing the door.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Saturday, Aug. 10, 2018**

Zach stands over Justin with a stopwatch in his hand. “One more minute. You can do it.”

“I really can’t,” Justin pants. “Unless you want me to throw up.”

“Fine, let’s call it a day,” Zach allows. “But only because I’m meeting Alex in fifteen minutes and I don’t have time to change my shoes if you throw up on them.”

He offers Justin a hand and pulls him to his feet, then hands him a water bottle. Justin gulps it down. Ever since he got out of juvie, Zach has been coaching him back into shape. Despite Justin’s constant complaining, they’ve been having fun and it’s been helping them rebuild their friendship.

“Well, go,” Justin says. “I don’t wanna stand in the way of date night. Your boyfriend hates me enough already.”

Zach sighs. “Alex doesn’t _hate_ you. He’s still pissed at you, but he’s coming around. I actually think it helps that I’m training you. He sympathizes or something.”

“Then make sure he knows I’m feeling like shit at the moment.” Justin sits back down on the floor and rolls his shoulder.

Zach crouches down next to him and nudges the water bottle. “Keep drinking. Eat a protein bar.” He rubs Justin’s shoulder for a few seconds. “Ice it, then—”

“—apply a heat pad. I know the drill.”

“I’ll go easier on you tomorrow,” Zach promises.

Justin groans. “Can’t we just watch a movie tomorrow?”

“As your trainer, I’m gonna say no.”

Justin takes a long sip of water, then looks at Zach with pleading eyes. “Fuck my trainer. I’d like to speak to my best friend.”

“You complain way more than Alex ever did, you know?” Zach smiles. “Fine. Movie tomorrow.”

“You’re the best,” Justin says with a smile.

Zach smiles back.


End file.
